Corporate recruiters face the Enron effect

Citation

(2003), "Corporate recruiters face the Enron effect", Career Development International, Vol. 8 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/cdi.2003.13708cab.004

Corporate recruiters face the Enron effect

Corporate recruiters face the Enron effect

An increasing number of young job seekers and older workers choose between potential employers because of their record on recycling rather than the pay and benefits package on offer.

The Ethical Employee – a survey of 1,050 people by The Work Foundation and The Future Foundation – shows that companies could improve their chances of hiring and keeping talented staff if they support employees' home needs and pay more attention to environmental and community concerns.

The research found that around 10 per cent of workers are "ethical enthusiasts" who hold such strong views on corporate social responsibility that it is likely to influence their choice of employer. Ethical enthusiasts are more likely to be young people (18-24) and older people (45 and over).

A further 10 per cent of the workforce marries self-sacrifice with self-interest. As well as corporate ethics, this group looks for an employer with employment practices that come under the umbrella of good corporate citizenship – such as flexible-working arrangements, compassionate approaches to illness and family crises.

The research also found that employers without a good record on corporate ethics are more likely to lose staff in the next 12 months. A third of all employees are very likely to be job hunting in the next 12 months because their employers have a poor record on corporate social responsibility. This is particularly true of ethical employees. Over half of them (53 per cent) who currently rate their employing organization as below par on its contribution to the wider community say they are fairly, very or extremely likely to leave over the next 12 months.

Stephen Bevan, deputy director of research at The Work Foundation, said: "The figures show that corporate ethics are an important determinant of employee loyalty. But how many employers monitor how many of their staff are concerned in this way? Most employers find out about their employees' concerns only after they have resigned. And in most cases they assume that money is the issue. In fact only around 10 per cent of employees leave because they are unhappy with their pay packet."

The report also argues that changing demographics mean that a company's ethical reputation is likely to become an even more important consideration in the job market:

Employers are going to have to wake up to the importance of their ethical reputation. The demographics of our labour market and Britain's population show that bright young graduates from certain universities and older people are going to be more in demand by employers. These are precisely the groups that are most concerned with ethical issues.

The survey also shows that – on the whole – companies that are rated as good corporate citizens are also felt to be good companies to work for. Marlboro, Railtrack and McDonald's are the companies that the working population would least like to work for. In contrast, the BBC, British Airways and Virgin are the most popular organizations.

Michael Willmott, co-founder of The Future Foundation, said: "The ability of an organization to attract people does depend on its stance on ethics and corporate citizenship, and will increasingly do so. But unsurprisingly, perceptions about the work itself and the products, services and brands of the organization are critical, too. Flying a plane is seen as more attractive than serving a burger and fries and so companies like McDonald's are less attractive to work for than their corporate-citizenship rating suggests. Employers who can combine all three are likely to be the winners in recruiting and retaining staff in the future."